1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to absorbent articles that are used as sanitary napkins for absorbing menstrual blood, panty liners for absorbing vaginal discharge, urine absorbing pads, or the like, and are worn in the groin area.
2. Related Art
Absorbent articles worn in a female's groin area are used as sanitary napkins for absorbing menstrual blood, panty liners for absorbing vaginal discharge, urine absorbing pads, or the like. When this type of absorbent article is worn in a female's groin area, force acts from the left and right thigh areas to compress the absorbent article in a lateral direction. By this force, the absorbent article easily bends along a centerline in a longitudinal direction, or a central region deforms into a convex shape towards a wearer's body, or the central region deforms into a concave shape tending to separate from the body. Furthermore, by the absorbent article being sandwiched by the left and right thigh areas, the width dimension of an absorbent body is reduced, the compressive force extends towards the front and the rear of the absorbent body, and the width of the overall absorbent body is narrowed. When the absorbent article deforms in this way, a gap is easily formed between the absorbent body and the excretion area of the wearer's body, and there is a risk that menstrual blood, urine, or the like may leak in a lateral direction or to the rear of the absorbent article.
Furthermore, in states in which the absorbent article is attached to underwear, and also when removed together with underwear after being used for a prescribed length of time, the absorbent article easily remains deformed in a convex or a concave shape, or the width dimension remains narrowed. As a result, the absorbent body cannot recover to its original shape, and a user can easily be made apprehensive as to whether menstrual blood or urine is leaking from the absorbent article.
For example, as described in Japanese Patent Application, Laid Open No. H11-33054, an absorbent article is known in which a compressed line, compressed in a concave shape, is formed in an absorbent body, and a central absorbent area is enclosed by this compressed line. When this absorbent article is worn in the groin area, pressure from the thigh areas is concentrated on and acts on the compressed line, the central absorbent area enclosed by the compressed line deforms into a convex shape towards a wearer's body and easily makes contact with the wearer's body, and when the compressive force is released, the compressed line exhibits an elastic restorative capability so that it can be anticipated that the absorbent area will recover to a wide state. However, when excreted fluid is absorbed, since the compressive force of the compressed line weakens and the elastic capability decreases, after the compressive force from the thigh areas is released, the central area cannot recover to a wide state, and a state with the width dimension narrowed is easily maintained. As a result, the absorbent article during use cannot widely cover the wearer's body, leakage of menstrual blood and the like can easily occur, and since the width dimension is narrowed after usage, the user can easily be made apprehensive as to whether menstrual blood or the like has leaked.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application, Laid Open No. 3455232 discloses a sanitary napkin in which a stabilizing member is arranged extending in a lateral direction, at the front end portion and the rear end portion. This stabilizing member can exhibit an elastic force in a lateral direction, and when the sanitary napkin receives a compressive force from the left and right, the stabilizing member that is positioned at the front portion and the rear portion can exhibit a resistance force against the compressive force.
However, although the sanitary napkin disclosed in Japanese Patent Application, Laid Open No. 3455232 can exhibit a resistance force against the compressive force from a lateral direction, at the front end portion and the rear end portion, it cannot exhibit a resistance force against the compressive force from the lateral direction in an intermediate region between the front and rear of the sanitary napkin, and when the sanitary napkin is worn, it is not possible to avoid a large contraction in the lateral direction of the absorbent body at the intermediate region.